Welcome to our home page. Please feel free to look around. Up-to-date group photos will be found below.
Welcome to our home page. Please feel free to look around. Up-to-date group photos will be found below.
--Prof. John R. Howell
For ensemble
members:
Puzzler: What composer's name is spelled out in this acrostic?
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The Early Music Ensemble, 2000-2001
The Early Music Ensemble was founded in 1996 as the outgrowth of a program of class and studio instruction in early instruments and informal recorder and vocal/instrumental ensembles. It is open to students with a special interest in studying and performing the music and the instruments of the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods. This repertoire is approached as chamber music, with no more than one or two on a part, and the music is selected each semester to fit the particular talents of the participants. Previous experience with early instruments or early music performance is a definite plus, but is not a requirement. Auditions are quite informal and intended to encourage participation at an appropriate skill level.
Click for Video
Bach on panpipes!
The
Singers explore a variety of vocal and vocal-instrumental chamber
music as soloists and in small ensembles selected for each piece.
Original languages are used. In fact the intimate relationship
between poetry and music is often one of the most interesting parts
of studying a new piece. The repertoire might include everything from
Gregorian chant and 11th century organum to madrigals and chansons
from the high courts of Europe or the cries of street vendors in
early 17th century London. Several singers also double on
instruments. All voice parts are used, including male alto
(countertenor).
The
Players represent the variety of instrumental ensembles and
instruments typical of early chamber music. Harpsichord, small organ,
and lute or classical guitar are joined by recorders, early flutes,
violin and viola da gamba, and some of the louder instruments like
shawm, krumhorn, cornetto, and sackbutt. Pictured is a quartet of
recorder players using Renaissance bore instruments. Anything from
Medieval or Renaissance dance music to formal Baroque salon music is
possible, and a variety of styles and instrumentations is used.
Keyboard, string, woodwind, brass, and percussion players can be
used, and there are opportunities to learn skills on the historical
versions of players' modern instruments.
Chamber
Music, whether vocal, instrumental or combined, represents the middle
ground between music for soloists and music for large ensembles with
many people on each part. Pictured are singers and instrumentalists
exploring the music from the 13th century Carmina Burana manuscript.
In another room an instrumental ensemble might be recreating music
for flute and recorders written by Georg Philipp Telemann or
Jean-Baptiste Lully for the entertainment of royalty.
In April, 1998, the Early Music Ensemble added Renaissance dances and dancers to its programs for the first time. Singers and Players from the ensemble, along with other volunteers from the Virginia Tech Chapter of the Society for Creative Anachronism, performed authentic choreography, recreated by Susan Taylor Howell, to the sound of authentic instruments playing authentic Renaissance dance music. Howell staged and choreographed the Madrigal Dinners presented at Indiana University by the Pro Arte Ensemble for a number of years, and has given workshops in Renaissance dance at several universities. A merry time was had by all, and future concerts may continue this new tradition.
The
Instruments used by the Early Music Ensemble are as authentic as
possible, and are used to create historically-informed performances.
Pictured is a trio sonata using alto recorder, oboe, cello and
harpsichord.
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Questions about this web page? Contact Prof. John R. Howell.
